A new and very useful type of adjustable underdesk monitor support assembly for a computer work station structure (that can be in a desk-like form or other working configuration) is provided in Lechman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,727. This support assembly permits a monitor so supported to be viewable through a transparent portion (or window) in the top flat top working platform of the work station structure. This type of monitor support assembly is well suited not only for use in work stations of the free standing desk type and the like, but also in work stations of the type that are incorporated into a modular structure or working environment (see, for example, Lechman et al. U.S. Ser. No. 778,333 filed Oct. 17, 1991).
Recently, so-called flat monitors have been coming into wide spread usage. In contrast to conventional monitors (which are cathode ray tube display devices (CRTS) that incorporate scanning focused electron beams that move in a scanning or raster pattern transversely relative to the beam path over phosphor screens configured as spherical segments), conventional flat monitors are liquid crystal display devices (LCDs). In a monitor LCD device, the picture raster is constructed of a rectangular metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) switching matrix. At present, such a matrix conventionally has from about 240 to about 600 horizontal elements and from about 200 to about 400 vertical elements. The gates of all the thin-film transistors (TFTs) in a given horizontal row are connected to a common bus. Vertical scan (row addressing) is produced by driving the gate buses from a shift register. Horizontal scan, which contains the video information, is more difficult, but is achievable by breaking a given line of video into the same number of pieces as there are pixels in the horizontal row and storing in sample-and-hold (S/H) stages which all drive their respective drain bus lines simultaneously, thus creating a line sequential display. The information on a drain is changed only once for each horizontal period (typically 63.5 .mu.s).
A flat monitor typically has a generally flat LCD viewing screen that is viewable through one face of an associated generally flattened rectangular case (or housing screen) of shallow thickness. Characteristically, the case of a flat monitor occupies substantially less volume and also has substantially less total weight with a flat monitor housed therein than the case of a conventional CRT type monitor with a conventional monitor housed therein that has a corresponding screen size.
For usage in a work station that is equipped with a transparent windowed flat working surface and with an interiorly positioned monitor which is supported for viewability by a seated station user through the window, a flat monitor is perceived by some to be desirable because of size, transportability (particularly in combination with a laptop or notebook computer) and related considerations.
Because of the desirable features and advantages of the adjustable underdesk monitor support assemblies provided in Lechman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,727 and in others of the above referenced related applications, it would be advantageous to adapt such assemblies for ready and convenient use in supporting flat monitors. The present invention provides an improved adjustable monitor support assembly that is so adapted.